Nanjing History

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Nanjing Anti-African protests were mass demonstrations and riots against African students in Nanjing, China, which lasted from December 1988, to the following January.

Background

Animosity towards African students has been a recurring event since the early 1960s, when scholarships provided by the Chinese government allowed many students from 'China-friendly' African countries to study in Beijing. This policy was originally based on the idea of 'third world solidarity' and Mao's linking of the fight against 'western imperialism' with Marxist class war. Many of these African students were given larger educational grants than native Chinese students, and racial hostility towards the Africans was a regular occurrence. Most of these students returned to their home countries before reaching the end of their courses due to poor living conditions and the political uncertainties of the Mao era. From the mid-1970s, China allowed African students to study outside of Beijing.

As well as resentment about the larger stipends given to African students, hostility from Chinese students towards Africans also flared up when there was contact between African men and Chinese women. In an incident in Shanghai in 1979, African students were attacked after playing loud music and annoying Chinese women. These clashes became more common during the 1980s and sometimes led to arrests and deportations of African students. Cultural differences in dating habits added to the tensions - whereas Chinese students were expected to know each other for some time before dating, African students may directly asking strangers to date."

Nanjing protests

On December 24, 1988 two male African students were entering their campus at Hehai University in Nanjing with two Chinese women. The occasion was a Christmas Eve party. A quarrel about correct identification between one of the Africans and a Chinese security guard, who had ordered the Africans to register their guests, led to a brawl between the African and Chinese students on the campus which lasted till the morning, leaving 13 students injured. 300 Chinese students, spurred by false rumors that a Chinese man had been killed by the Africans, broke into and set about destroying the Africans' dormitories, shouting slogans such as "Kill the black devils!" After the police had dispersed the Chinese students, many Africans fled to the railway station in order to gain safety at various African embassies in Beijing. The authorities prevented the Africans from boarding the trains so as to question those involved in the brawl. Soon their numbers increased to 140, as other African and non-African foreign students, fearing violence, arrived at the station asking to be allowed to go to Beijing.

By this time, Chinese students from Hehai University had joined up with students from other Nanjing universities to make up a 3000 strong demonstration which called on government officials to prosecute the African students and reform the system which gave foreigners more rights than the Chinese. On the evening of 26 December, the marchers converged on the railway station while holding banners calling for human rights and political reform. Chinese police managed to isolate the non-Chinese students from the marchers and moved them to a military guest house outside Nanjing. The demonstrations were declared illegal, and riot police were brought in from surrounding provinces to pacify the demonstrations which lasted several more days.

Aftermath

In January, three of the African students were deported for being suspected of starting the brawl. The other students returned to Hehai University and were required to follow new regulations, including a night-time curfew, having to report to university authorities before leaving the campus, and having no more than one Chinese girlfriend whose visits would be limited to the lounge area. Guests were still required to be registered.

Anti-African demonstrations spread to other cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. These were smaller than the Nanjing protests, though the Beijing protests were one of the currents which led to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Nanjing protests and Tiananmen Square protests

The course of the Nanjing protests went from anti-African sentiment to banners proclaiming Human Rights. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 came 4 months after the anti-African protests in Nanjing and some elements of the Nanjing protests were still evident, such as banners proclaiming "No Offend Chinese Women" .

Taiping Generals

Strength

The regular Army had only 180,000 soldiers while the Taiping Rebellion militia force had at least 560,000 soldiers.

Outcome

Taiping Rebellion forces occupied Jiangsu in 1860. The next year, they occupied Zhejiang. The Jiangnan DaYing was destroyed. The Second Opium War took place and Xianfeng Emperor died in 1861. The Xiang Army and Huai Army combined to become the Green Standard Army in 1862 and for the third time they surrounded and attacked Nanjing, successfully ending the civil war in July 1864.

Commentary

The Jiangnan DaYing had trouble making the payroll for its forces, and these forces were insufficient to fight off the British and French forces in northern China.

The leaders intrigue against each other： Xiang Rong and Her Chyun in the first Jiangnan DaYing Her Chyun group, He Guiqing group and Zeng Guofan group dispute inner officials system, which allowed the Taiping Rebellion to gain momentum.

Her Chyun's ability to use Brigadier General‘s works but he belittled the Taiping Rebellion, He Guiqing's cowardice and Zeng Guofan' selfishness. the third reason for their loss.

The Battle of Nanjing began after the fall of Shanghai in October 9, 1937, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanjing in December, 1937 to Japanese troops, a few days after the Republic of China Government had evacuated the city and relocated to Chongqing. The Nanking Massacre followed the fall of the city. The actual scene of this massacre is introduced in detail in the documentary film of the movie ''The Battle of China''.

Before Battle

General Tang Shengzhi was given the job of defending Nanjing following the retreat of the Chinese Army following the Battle of Shanghai. In a press release to foreign reporters, he announced the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. The defense force blocked roads, ruined boats, and burnt nearby villages, preventing many citizens from evacuating. However, the defense plan fell apart from the very beginning because the defenders were overwhelmed by Chinese troops fleeing from previous defeats such as the Battle of Shanghai, and these troops just wanted to escape to safer ground and refused to obey any orders. As Chiang Kai-shek and his staff such as Chen Cheng had realized, elite troops could not risk annihilation in a hopeless but symbolic defensive battle in the capital, so in order to preserve these forces for future battles, most of them were withdrawn. General Tang Shengzhi gathered about 100,000 soldiers, mostly untrained, including a few defeated troops from the Shanghai battlefield, to defend the capital. He also placed the 35th and 72nd divisions at the port to prevent people from fleeing Nanjing, as instructed by Chiang Kai-shek's general headquarters at Wuhan. However, the government left Nanking on December 1, and the president left on December 7. Nanjing was left to an International Committee led by John Rabe.

Battle

On December 9, after occupying the nearby countryside and demanding a surrender , the Japanese troops under Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launched a massive assault on the city. Low morale, fleeing troops, and an overwhelming enemy caused the Chinese commanders to order a retreat across the Yangtze River by the evening of December 12. Many orders given during the battle contradicted those of headquarters, and many more orders were simply ignored. This complication, in addition to the inadequate preparatory measures made before the battle, gave little chance for Chinese soldiers to escape.

On December 13, the 6th and 114th Divisions of the first entered the city. Simultaneously, the 9th Division entered nearby Guanghua Gate, and the 16th Division entered and Taiping Gate. That same afternoon, two small fleets arrived on both sides of the Yangtze River. Nanking fell to the Japanese by nightfall.

In the following six weeks, the Japanese troops committed the Nanking Massacre.

Aftermath

Several cities, including Xuzhou and Wuhan soon fell after this battle. The government also tried to slow down the advancing Japanese by causing the 1938 Huang He flood, which covered three provinces.

First rout the Army Group Jiangnan (or the Jiangnan DaYing; ,The Qing government raised the Green Standard Army to fight against the Taiping Rebellion,but Qing twice military Strategy surrounded the Nanjing all iose at last.

The Green Standard Army was led by First Class Senior General Xiang Rong, Second Class Senior General Her Chyun and Lieutenant General：Zhang GuoLiang. The leaters of the Taiping forces were Shi Dakai, Yang Xiuqing, Qin Rigang and Li Xiucheng.

The regular Army had 80,000 members and the Taiping Rebellion militia force had 460,000.

Outcome

On June 11856, the Nanjing army tried to stop Taiping forces but the Governor of Jiangsu Jeer Hungar, Mayor of Nanjing and 7,800 army were all killed.

The Qing army lost a battle later in the month and the remaining 36,000 retreated north. On August 9 Xiang Rong suicide by hang in Danyang.

Commentary

The Green Standard Army forces stationed in northern China defend UK and troops increased the Jiangnan DaYing less strength and money pay salary to soldiers, it was the first and important loss reason;

The leaders intrigued against each other, and this further hindered their cause.

Battle of Nanjing began after the fall of Wuhan in March 8, 1853, and ended with the fall of the capital city of Nanjing in March 19, 1853 to Taiping troops, a few days after the Qing Government had evacuated the city and set off the first Jiangnan DaYing after 10 days. The Taiping Rebellion changed Nanjing named to be the Tianjing deal a capital and beginning occupied 11 years till recovery by Xiang Army in June 19 1864 .

Nanjing no any wars before 206 years till this battle, terrible sad and giant shadow of war began over here.

When Taiping forces occupied Nanjing that forced 30,000 citizens join in and input to Jianbei's battlefield immediately, but 9000 citizens refused and jump to Yangtze River drowned from boats in half way where front line of Yangzhou, and Taiping forces occupied Yangzhou speedily but then Yangtze River flowed many bodys to sea that was terrible and cruel scene.

The Treaty of Nanking , signed 29 August, 1842, was the which marked the end of the First Opium War between the and Empires of 1839-42.

Conclusion of the Treaty

In the wake of China's defeat in the Opium War, representatives from the and Qing Empires negotiated a peace treaty aboard the British warship in Nanjing. On 29 August 1842, British representative Sir Henry Pottinger and Qing representatives, Qiying, Ilibu and Niujian, signed the Treaty of Nanking. The treaty consisted of thirteen articles and was ratified by Queen Victoria and the Daoguang Emperor ten months later.

Terms

Foreign trading

The fundamental purpose of the treaty was to change the framework of foreign trade which had been in force since 1760. The treaty abolished the monopoly of the Thirteen Factories on foreign trade in Canton and instead five ports were opened for trade, , Amoy , Foochow , Ningpo and Shanghai , where Britons were to be allowed to trade with anyone they wished. Britain also gained the right to send consuls to the treaty ports, which were given the right to communicate directly with local Chinese officials . The treaty was the first in a series of treaties, often referred to as "Unequal Treaties", which China concluded with Western nations in the 19th century. The treaty stipulated that trade in the treaty ports should be subject to fixed tariffs, which were to be agreed upon between the British and the Qing governments .

Reparations and Demobilization

The was obliged to pay the British government 6 million silver dollars for the opium that had been confiscated by Lin Zexu in 1839 , 3 million dollars in compensation for debts that the Hong merchants in Canton owed British merchants , and a further 12 million dollars in for the cost of the war . The total sum of 21 million dollars was to be paid in installments over three years and the Qing government would be charged an annual interest rate of 5 per cent for the money that was not paid in a timely manner . This left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Qing government instilling a fierce hatred of the British among its population.

The Qing government undertook to release all British prisoners of war and to give a general amnesty to all Chinese subjects who had cooperated with the British during the war .

The British on their part, undertook to withdraw all of their troops from Nanjing and the Grand Canal after the emperor had given his assent to the treaty and the first installment of money had been received . British troops would remain in Gulangyu and Zhoushan until the Qing government had paid reparations in full .

Cession of Hong Kong

The Qing government agreed to cede the island of Hong Kong to the British Queen "in perpetuity" in order to provide British traders with a harbour where they could unload their goods . Pottinger was later appointed the first governor of Hong Kong.

Aftermath

Since the Treaty of Nanking was only a brief peace treaty with very general stipulations, the British and Chinese representatives agreed that a supplementary treaty be concluded in order to work out more detailed regulations for relations between the two empires. Consequently, on 3 October 1843, the supplementary Treaty of the Bogue was concluded at Bocca Tigris outside Canton.

Nevertheless, the treaties of 1842-3 left several unsettled issues. In particular it did not resolve the status of the opium trade with China, which was profitable for the British and devastating to the Chinese. Although the explicitly banned Americans from selling opium, the trade continued as both the British and American merchants were only subject to the legal control of their consuls. The opium trade was later legalized in the Treaties of Tianjin, which China concluded after the Second Opium War.

Legacy

Although the Treaty of Nanking in itself did not depart very far from contemporary in Europe, the treaty proved to be only the first in a series of treaties which China concluded with Western nations in the nineteenth century and would in due course be referred to as an "." The treaty created a new framework for China's foreign relations and overseas trade, which would last for almost a hundred years. Although China regained tariff autonomy in the 1920s, extraterritoriality was not formally abolished until 1943.

One of the most lasting legacies of the treaty was the crown colony of Hong Kong. In 1860, the colony was extended with the Kowloon peninsula and in 1898, the Convention of Peking further expanded the colony with the 99 year lease of the New territories. In 1984, the governments of the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China concluded the , under which the sovereignty of the leased territories, together with Hong Kong Island and ceded under the Convention of Peking , was to the PRC on July 1, 1997.